Backyard creatures

Posted by hil

Yesterday morning I looked out to find 18 king parrots in my garden! There were also a trio of young crimson rosellas, and a pair of eastern rosellas. At first they were in a tree, looking like bright red decorations. This is a king and an eastern (smaller):

kingp

Today there was a strange animal nosing around in all the twigs and leaves the parrots had nibbled off and dropped on the ground. Can you see it’s back legs and long tail?

IMG_3907

A wider view:

IMG_3908

Yeah, just the plumber’s electric eel. I was interested to see that he kept the eel rolled up in a car tyre. I meant to ask him if that was just his particular invention, or one most plumbers have taken to. It’s a great idea.

Butterfly colour palettes

Posted by hil

Swatch

I once had an idea to make colour swatches from Australian landscapes for people to use when designing webpages. My main site Spirits Dancing dates from that time; it’s sorely in need of updating in other ways, but I still like the colours, which were sourced from a eucalyptus tree. So I was interested to come across a thriving community website based on a similar idea, COLORlovers. Check out their colour palettes sourced from butterflies.

(via Laughing Squid)

Cockroaches

Posted by hil

Cockroach

(photo credit: Ella Misso)

This very cool cockroach puppet, made by my friend Ella Misso, looks as if it could come straight out of some Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers trip! Incidentally, here is a pilot of a proposed clay-animation film adaptation of the Freak Brothers.

TiddlyWiki

Posted by hil

TiddlyWiki, a ‘reusable non-linear personal web notebook‘, looks as if it offers lots of interesting possibilities. I’d like to try it out when I have some spare time.

(via Doc Searls)

A dearth of koala noses

Posted by hil

koalanose

I’ve been phoning around the crafts shops asking if they have any large koala noses, as you do. Only one person spluttered with laughter; she gets a big tick of approval. But it turns out there is a dearth of koala noses. What can have happened?? Where can they be? Are they living it up, kicking up their heels somewhere, free at last?

Later:
I got to thinking what a strange word dirth was, and tried looking it up. There was a derth of dirths but eventually I found that its obsolete, obscure and spelt derth, making for a derth of derths, as well as dirths and koala noses. (Still later: Okay, it’s dearth. I got there in the end.)

Pasha at Project Puppet in comments below found one loafing around (thanks Pasha!), confirming my suspicions.

loaf

Fancy having to send to the US for a koala nose.

Darth Vader balloon!

Posted by hil

How cool is the Darth Vader hot air balloon!

The burner jet sound would be absolutely perfect – maybe they should have a loud recording of ‘Luke… I am your faaather’ to go with it. Hope it comes to Canberra sometime; the Van Gough balloon came here, so it’s reasonably likely.

John Cox: How to make a monster

Posted by hil

Gillmanx

John Cox‘s exhibition How to Make a Monster has been travelling around Australia for some time now, and at present it’s at the Scienceworks Museum in Melbourne until mid July. John’s work became known with his making of the animal cast in Babe, but he has since been involved in many movies, including Crocodile Dundee in LA, George of the Jungle 2, Peter Pan, and Inspector Gadget 2. Often exhibitions only hint at how things are made, but How to Make a Monster looks as if it goes into the making process in detail. I feel there is often a hunger for this kind of information, perhaps especially among children. The willingness to share such detail both here and on his website is a generosity I respect and appreciate.

How to make a monster: the art and technology of animatronics is a great review, talking through many of the facets of the exhibition, while Ghoul School ‘explores the workshop of Australia’s pre-eminent monster-maker’.

I’m interested Cox uses computer technology linked with a router for some sculpting.

The 9-metre crocodile made for Peter Pan is amazing. Check out the video studio for footage of the crocodile being tested…

Jcox

It took 4 months to make and is a favourite of Cox’s, and of the puppeteer, Richard Mueck:

‘RICHARDMUECK (SCULPTOR/PUPPETEER): This was an absolute joy to perform. This was possibly the most powerful, impressive puppet I’ve ever had my hands on, and I was like a little kid in a toy shop who just got the coolest Christmas present. — ABC 7.30 Report

Unfortunately, due to financial pressures, the director had to cut its use to a cameo role: “You see it open one eye and move its head about 30 centimetres,” Cox says. “We could have done that with a head on a stick.”

Experience has taught him not to be too precious about his creations. Making them is the real buzz; what happens after that is often beyond his control. “We got to build this amazing, big thing and it worked,” he says. “It makes for an interesting story and there are no bad feelings.” – SMH

This rings absolutely true. As do Cox’s practical hints for students.

From big things little things grow

Posted by hil

Bigthingsx

(photo credit: Australia Post)

Today Australia Post is issuing a stamp set featuring five of the 150-or-so Australian Big Things, large roadside attractions that seem to occupy an odd little corner of our national identity. The legendary Reg Mombassa is the artist, an inspired choice, as his style reflects the quirkiness and humour with which the big things are regarded.

The big merino about an hour up the highway from us in Goulburn was moved a few weekends ago. It’s an almighty concrete ram nicknamed Rambo, but has a souvenir shop nestled between it’s hind legs instead of rambo-ishness. It used to be on the Hume Highway to Sydney, until Goulburn was by-passed, but now it will be again. Sadly it seems that after all the effort, it is visible but not exactly predominant.

There are a few pictures of the move:

IBN News slide show
Newspix gallery
Tiscali News: On the rig

Merino

(Photo by Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images)

The ABC NSW also has a photo of the ram being built, and details of its construction. It actually is a light glass-reinforced concrete skin. Like a number of other big things, it was made by an Adelaide based company, Glenn Industries.

Merino3

Big Things: Australia’s Amazing Roadside Attractions by David Clark is also a good source if you are interested in how the big things were made, although from my point of view they never give enough detail. I like the stories of those that were made just by one or two people, eccentrics with a bee in their bonnets.

Back to Reg to finish off. This postcard has been on my fridge door since some campaign in 2002. I love the title as much as the drawing: